Court allows Doherty to play gig

The rock star Pete Doherty was given a one-off change to his bail today to allow him to play a gig.

The rock star Pete Doherty was given a one-off change to his bail today to allow him to play a gig.

The 25-year-old former Libertines singer and on-off boyfriend of model Kate Moss was in court accused of robbery and blackmail.

He was arrested earlier this month following an alleged dispute with documentary maker Max Carlish at the Rookery Hotel in Islington, north London.

Also detained was Alan Wass, 23, guitarist with four-piece band Left Hand, who faces the same charges.

The men, both of north London, appeared before London's Snaresbrook Crown Court today for a preliminary hearing.

Their lawyers indicated they would be pleading not guilty at a plea and direction hearing in April and that there is likely to be an application to dismiss the case.

Doherty, dressed in a black suit and tie with a white shirt and navy trench coat, confirmed his name as he stood in the dock with Wass, wearing a grey suit, black shirt and large star emblem silver chain.

He requested Doherty's surety be reduced from £150,000 by £50,000 and that his curfew of 10pm to 7am be changed tomorrow night to midnight to 7am to enable him to play a gig at Brixton Academy in south London.

The prosecution in the case offered no objection.

The judge agreed to lowering the surety and also to allowing Doherty two more hours out tomorrow night provided requests to change bail conditions was not a "too regular occurrence".

Wass's lawyer Gerald Doran QC asked for a change of bail address in north London, which the judge also agreed to.

Mr Justice Radford asked the two men to stand as he told them that their case was being adjourned to April 18 for a plea and directions hearing.

He said their bail would continue, warning them: "Let me make this perfectly clear, as I say to all defendants: you must abide by these conditions. If you fail to observe any one of them, it is very likely you will be arrested and your bail will be revoked."

Asked if they understood, they nodded. Asked if it was all clear, Doherty added: "Very, sir."

Doherty left the court in a black Mercedes after being greeted by fans outside.

Doherty, a self-confessed drug addict and now singer of the band Babyshambles, has been the centre of media attention during his romance with Miss Moss, 31.

The status of their relationship remains uncertain, with some friends claiming they will marry and others that the singer has been dumped because of his drug addiction.